MARISS study on ion yields of Ne+ scattered from III–V compound semiconductors

Experiments are reported on the ion yields versus the incident energy (0.6–1.6 keV) of Ne+ scattered at 120° from Ga and In atoms on the surface of III–V semiconductors (GaP, GaAs, InP, InAs). The measurements were performed using mass-resolved ion-scattering spectrometry. The energy dependencies of Ne+ on Ga(In) for the compounds were found very similar to those measured for pure gallium and indium samples, without any oscillatory structures in the energy range examined. Elemental sensitivity factors did not depend on the chemical environment (“no matrix effect”). The steady-state surface density of Ga atoms was estimated to be constant for both Ga compounds when the ion-beam energy changed. Similar values of the atomic density were derived for indium in the In-based compounds, but In content in the InAs exhibited a little increase at the bombarding energy below 0.8–1 keV. It was shown that for the III–V compounds, the accuracy of quantification with calibration using only Ga(In) pure standard samples depends on the assumed surface atomic density, which can be modified by the sputter-induced roughness and disordering.